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10 Things To Know Before the Irish Face Baylor

One more. It all comes down to this, the final college basketball game of the season. Notre Dame and Baylor will clash in Denver, in what has all the makings of a memorable finale. Two No. 1 seeds, one looking to close out an undefeated and historic season, the other hoping to take care of some unfinished business, dating back to this time last year. Get excited.

Beyond the Broadcast

Series

Baylor leads, 2-0. The Lady Bears defeated the Irish in Waco, Tx. back on Nov. 20 in the Preseason WNIT championship game, 94-81.

What's at stake?

Greatness. Glory. A national championship.

NCAA History

The Irish are seeking to avenge last year's title game loss against Texas A&M, and earn their second championship in program history. The first came in 2001, when head coach Muffet McGraw's team defeated Purdue, 68-66 in St. Louis. Baylor, on the other hand, is looking to become the first NCAA team to ever go 40-0. The Lady Bears are also in search of a second national championship (the first came in 2005).

This Is What They Play For

The early-morning high school practices, the AAU tournaments, the summer camps, the long, late trips back to campus from mid-week away games - all of that preparation and each of those sacrifices was made in the hope of getting to this point where the Notre Dame women's basketball team finds itself this evening - on the verge of an NCAA championship.

The undefeated Lady Bears are the favorite, that is certain. But perhaps that's not a bad thing for the Fighting Irish. To steal a quote from Kansas head coach Bill Self's pre-game speech, "All the pressure is in that locker room."

Sure, the Jayhawks comeback fell short against Kentucky. But Notre Dame has a tremendous opportunity to take a similar approach - to just go out and play its game. If the Irish can do that, Skylar, Nasty, Dev & Co. very well could be the ones cutting down the net at the end of the night.